By BETHANY IMONDI, Breeze Summer Correspondent

I hate to admit this, but by the time I see this article in print, I will be back in school.

I really have no idea where the summer went. I feel like it was only yesterday that I was stressing about final exams and dreaming about lazy afternoons at the beach.

Now, fall is coming, and so are tests, homework, and plenty of anxiety.

To add even more to the overflowing to-do list, as a senior I will also have the responsibility of completing the Senior Project.

In the past few weeks, my friends and I have been talking a lot about the graduation required project. Some of my friends already know what they plan on studying, such as the careers of a special investigator and an elementary school teacher. I, on the other hand, am not quite sure.

As a member of the high school's mock trial team, I know I would like to do my mentoring hours with an attorney. What type of attorney and what type of law I am interested in studying are questions I cannot currently answer.

Although the long list of due dates scares me, I expect to learn a great deal from the Senior Project. By forcing students to complete mentoring hours in a field that interests them, it is an excellent way to understand whether or not the field is worth pursing as a career.

Beyond the Senior Project, seniors also have to deal with the college application process. There are so many aspects to the process that it will be nothing short of overwhelming.

What I think makes the process so difficult is not the enormous amount of paperwork or high application fees, but rather the decision making that goes into it. College represents the next four years in seniors' lives, so choosing the right one is critical.

Just thinking about college makes the reality sink in: I have only one more year of high school left. Only one more year, and then I am off on my own.

The truth of the situation almost seems surreal. Just this past weekend, my friends and I were together remembering our first day of high school.

Nearly all of us could remember exactly what we wore that first day, and everyone agreed that we felt terrified as freshmen.

Over the last three years, I have become friends with so many people. I have had great memories both inside and outside the classroom with these friends. Together, we have been tormented as freshmen at the pep rally, and then also booed the freshmen as we advanced in class.

Now, we all will experience our last homecoming week. We will celebrate the athletic teams' victories for only one more season as a Cougar student. We will dance together at our final winter ball and senior prom.

Then, together, we will all graduate as the Class of 2009.

I expect this year to be the best out of my four years of high school. I also expect it to be the most bittersweet, but I would not have it any other way.